India’s Dhiraj Bommadevara clinched his maiden individual recurve gold and partnered with Kumkum Mohod to win the mixed team title, completing a golden double at the Archery World Cup Stage 3 in Antalya.
Dhiraj strikes individual gold, completes golden double for India at Archery World Cup (Credit: World Archery)
India’s Dhiraj Bommadevara capped a sensational day at the Archery World Cup Stage 3 in Antalya, Türkiye, by winning his maiden individual recurve gold before teaming up with teenage archer Kumkum Mohod to secure the mixed team title on Sunday.
Bommadevara produced a breakthrough performance in the men’s recurve final, defeating Republic of Korea’s Lee Woo-seok, an Olympic bronze medallist, 7-3 to clinch his maiden World Cup individual gold.
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The 24-year-old showed resilience in the semifinals as well, coming back from a 3-1 deficit to beat Germany’s Moritz Wieser 6-4 in a tense encounter.
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This marks Dhiraj’s first individual World Cup gold and his fourth overall medal on the circuit, having previously won three bronze medals.
The victory is also significant for India, as it is the country’s first men’s individual recurve World Cup gold since Atanu Das’ triumph in 2021. Only Jayanta Talukdar has previously topped the podium in a men’s individual recurve World Cup stage for India.
Earlier in the day, Dhiraj paired with teenage archer Kumkum Mohod to defeat South Korea’s top-seeded pair Kim Je-deok and Oh Ye-jin 5-1 in the recurve mixed team final.
The Indian duo, seeded third, held their nerve in a high-pressure contest against a Korean team boasting Olympic pedigree, including Tokyo 2020 mixed team gold medallist Kim Je-deok and former youth world champion Oh Ye-jin.
With the win, Dhiraj and Kumkum became only the third Indian mixed recurve pair to win gold at a World Cup stage, following Deepika Kumari-Atanu Das (2021) and Tarundeep Rai-Ridhi (2022).
The final saw India match the Koreans arrow for arrow, with both archers delivering crucial 10s at key moments. Dhiraj sealed the match with a perfect 10 on his final arrow, highlighting his composure under pressure.
Kumkum, 17, once again impressed on the big stage, continuing her breakthrough season after winning women’s team gold in Shanghai earlier this year.
The pair’s combined consistency proved decisive, as India stunned one of the most decorated teams in world archery.
The double gold highlights India’s growing depth in recurve archery, with young archers increasingly challenging traditional powerhouses like South Korea on the global stage.
With momentum building, attention now turns to upcoming international competitions as India continues its push for sustained success in the sport.
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